Scholars and Youth Participate in Cross-Border Solidarity Journey

 Academics, students and unions representing professionals including doctors, engineers, journalists and lawyers, have joined civil society associations from Tunisia, Mauritania, Morocco and Algeria in a North African convoy that is heading to Gaza to support the Palestinian people amid a worsening humanitarian crisis – in breach of Israel’s 18-year blockade of the Gaza Strip.


The Maghreb Resilience Convoy, also known as Sumoud – Arabic for resilience or steadfastness – will travel across land from Tunisia through Libya and Egypt to reach Rafah, the border crossing between Egypt and Gaza, that has remained largely closed since Israel’s military took control of the area in May 2024.

It set off from central Tunis on 9 June, at the same time the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, an aid ship that set sail from Sicily earlier this month, was seized by Israeli forces.

Following the seizure of the aid ship, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Israel would not allow anyone to break the blockade of Gaza, which was aimed at preventing the supply of arms to Hamas, MSN reported.

The Maghreb Resilience Convoy was organised by the Joint Action Coordination Committee for Palestine in Tunisia.

The protest is supported by major national organisations, with a group of prominent Tunisian civil society actors participating, including the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT), the National Union of Tunisian Journalists, the National Order of Lawyers in Tunisia, the Tunisian League for the Defence of Human Rights, the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights, the Order of Tunisian Doctors, the Tunisian Association of Young Lawyers, the Tunisian Organisation of Young Doctors, the Association of One Million Rural Women and Landless, and the Tunisian Network to Confront the Normalisation System (referring to diplomatic relations with Israel).

The UGTT, Tunisia’s largest labour union, is an umbrella organisation that includes student movements, academic associations and university-based unions, including the General Federation of Higher Education and Scientific Research (La Fédération Générale de l’Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche Scientifique).

Wassim Ben Messaoud, the secretary general of the Tunisian General Union of Students, in a statement on 9 June said the union supported the convoy, accusing Israel of waging “genocidal war” and “systematic starvation of more than two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, in full view of all the ‘civilized’ countries of the world”.

“We call on all students, youth organisations, and students in Tunisia and the Arab and Islamic world to actively engage in supporting Palestinian rights and participate in international solidarity activities,” Ben Messaoud added.

Mohamed El-Koury Ahmed Ibrahim, the president of the Association of Mauritanian Students in Tunisia, told University World News it was supporting the convoy, in particular through a media and awareness campaign.

A broader global initiative

The convoy is part of a global initiative called the Global March To Gaza which involves about 30 countries from Europe, South America and Southeast Asia and is supported by organisations across the globe.

As the North Africa group set off from central Tunis on 9 June, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, an aid ship that set sail from Sicily earlier this month as part of the global initiative, was seized by Israeli forces.

In response, the Arab and Maghreb Youth Student Front in a statement on 9 June criticised the action, saying there was no tolerance for any “free act of solidarity, even if it is peaceful and civil”.

“Hence, our responsibility, as Arab and Maghreb student and youth forces, grows to … support every action that contributes to lifting the siege and strengthening the steadfastness of the Palestinian people,” the statement read, also calling for a global movement of convoys, marches and mass-sit ins to stop the siege on Gaza.

Organisations that are supporting the convoy and broader international effort include the University of Cape Town (UCT) Alumni for Palestine, or UCTA4P, as well as representatives from the Universidad Nacional del Sur, Argentina, Academicxs por Palestina Mexico, the University of Toronto Divest, Canada, the Asociación Taller de Educación en Valores Alternativos, Spain, the Overseas Indonesian Students Association Alliance, Indonesia, and the Observatory Against the Militarization of Schools and Universities, Italy, as well as Teachers Against Genocide in the United States.

En route to Rafah

The convoy aims to halt in Rafah from 15 to 19 June, but this will depend on authorisations from the Egyptian government.

The Joint Action Coordination Committee for Palestine called for facilitating the convoy’s passage through Arab territories by providing political and logistical support.

The statement warned against “official Arab and international silence” regarding what is happening in Gaza, describing it as a “moral and humanitarian disgrace”.

On 11 June the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that the entire population of Gaza was experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity, with one million facing emergency levels, and 470,000 facing “catastrophic levels” of food insecurity.

Humanitarian crisis

The World Food Programme (WFP) reported on 10 June that since a limited resumption of humanitarian assistance into Gaza on 19 May, it has only been able to bring in small amounts of life-saving food and aid, “largely due to delays or denials of permission for humanitarian movements due to expanded military operations”.

It said in the past almost three weeks it has transported 700 trucks of aid into Gaza compared to the same number every day during the ceasefire.

“After nearly 80 days of a total blockade of aid, and a trickle of assistance since the reopening, the fear of starvation inside Gaza remains high,” WFP said.

It has only been able to bring in enough supplies to support less than 300,000 people for a month with minimal daily food requirements, a small fraction of what is needed for a population of 2.1 million people.

“To stave off starvation, stabilise markets and calm desperation, we need to consistently support the entire population with basic food requirements every month.”

Additionally, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the ongoing fuel blockade, now entering its fourth month, is placing life-sustaining services – including health and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities – at severe risk.

On 4 June, the estimated death toll in Gaza, following Israel’s military operation stood at 54,607 (including about 8,304 women and 15,613 children) and 125,341 people had been injured, according to OCHA, which also indicated that 87,000 tertiary students are left without access to formal learning spaces, and 2,308 educational facilities, including universities, have been destroyed.

Israel’s military attack was triggered by the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel during which 1,200 people were killed and about 240 hostages were seized. According to OCHA, on 4 June, an estimated 58 hostages remain in Gaza.

Hamas said its 7 October attacks were a response to Israel’s continuing military occupation of Palestine, and Israel continuing construction of illegal settlements in occupied territory, according to Al Jazeera.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is seeking to destroy Hamas and achieve the release of the 58 hostages, Reuters reported. According to the BBC, it is believed that more than half of the hostages still held by Hamas are dead.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Prime Minister Netanyahu and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant, and Hamas Commander Mohammed Deif, for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case, brought by South Africa, at the International Court of Justice in relation to its war on Gaza.

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